11 The Library Part 2
by Shenice
Summary: A more mature continuation of "9 The Library." Nancy and Frank keep finding themselves left alone in a quiet library. Can they ease the tension?


"Interesting. It says here the Scanton family owned the old movie theater and bowling alley that burned down in '75." Joe scanned through the crumpled newspaper, focusing on the faded picture of a stocky man in an ill-fitting suit, posing stoically next to the article. Joe had been hunched over a pile of old newspapers with Nancy and Frank for several hours researching Rivermore's history of fires. There were rumors of a town arsonist plaguing the town, and they were trying to learn more about it.

"Scanton? Why does that sound name familiar?" Nancy quizzically looked through the papers before her, trying to remember where she saw the name.

"Two major fires in a small town within weeks of each other? What happened?" Frank asked his brother.

"It was chalked up to a nearby forest fire, but no other buildings were damaged because of it. It's odd that no one noticed the correlation."

"A-ha! The Scanton-Holden wedding," Nancy grinned, holding up an article that was a wedding announcement. "I knew the name sounded familiar. Jimmy Holden married Shelby Scanton 5 years ago, and guess who owns the arcade that just burned down?"

"The Holden family! Good eye, Nancy. This seems like a classic case of arson insurance fraud," Frank stated.

"Yeah, except this town is apparently oblivious to the whole thing. You think anyone else is in on it?" Joe grabbed the article from Nancy.

"Only one way to find out. Let's pay a visit to Shelby Holden first thing tomorrow morning. We'll get to the bottom of this." Nancy stretched her neck side to side, finally taking notice of how sore she was from sitting all evening.

"Okay, sounds good to me. What doesn't sound good is the noise my stomach is making right now. We should break for dinner." Joe grabbed the newspapers and hastily stacked them on top of each other, leaving them on the floor.

"Listen, brother. We can get some food, but we first have to put the newspapers back the way we found them."

"Oh, come on. Live a little. It's not like anyone has looked at these in decades anyway."

"Frank is right, Joe. If we don't clean these up, someone else will have to," Nancy said.

"Hm, I have a hunch that a librarian will do it. I wonder if it's in their job qualifications to do so?" Joe sarcastically brought his hand to his chin, stroking a pretend beard.

"Don't be smart, Joe. How about you go to the diner across the street? I noticed it's a 24/7 breakfast joint and I could go for some French toast. You take Nancy with you and place my order, and by the time I'm done settling, my meal will be ready and I'll meet up with you. But the catch is you have to buy my meal."

"Well played, big brother. You got yourself a deal. Nan, you ready to go?"

"Make that two French toast orders, actually. I'm going to help Frank clean up." Nancy looked towards Frank, who was smiling at her thoughtfully.

"Suit yourselves, although I can't promise I won't eat your meals if you take too long. Hurry up, dinner's on me tonight, apparently." Joe stood up and left the two detectives in the dimly lit library.

"Thanks for helping me, Nancy. You didn't have to do that."

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. This was our mess anyhow, and as a bonus, I get a free meal for helping you," Nancy grinned at Frank.

"That's right, so do I. That's a good deal."

"Indeed, I didn't know you could be so clever, Hardy," Nancy teased.

"Hey, I have my moments. Joe isn't the only smooth one around here."

Nancy laughed as they gathered the newspapers into organized piles. She reached for the article on the Scanton-Holden wedding and realized Frank was grabbing it at the same time. Their hands touched briefly. Nancy blushed as she quickly pulled her hand away.

Noticing the gesture, Frank smirked, "Am I kryptonite, Nancy?"

Nancy's blushed deepened. She was grateful the library was so dark so Frank couldn't see. It was surprising for Frank to be so forward. The reply was usually something Joe would say, so it was unexpected. She didn't understand how Frank could leave her feeling nervous and uncertain, but she needed to snap out of it and just be herself.

Nancy smiled and stood up, holding a pile of papers in the crook of her arm. "Not at all, Hardy. Need some help?" She offered her free hand to Frank.

Frank smiled as he grasped Nancy's small hand into his. As if she could pick him up, he thought. He did find the gesture quite endearing. Without using her strength, Frank found himself standing up on his own, pushing away the thought that he really didn't need to take her hand in the first place.

The next few minutes they fell into a comfortable silence, grabbing the piles of newspapers, and putting them back on their respective shelves. Only one pile was remaining, and it had to go on the highest shelf.

Nancy blushed thinking of how Frank picked her up earlier to reach the papers. She wondered if he would offer to do that again. Her heart quickened slightly. Without hesitation, Frank jumped onto a middle shelf and climbed to the top, just as Joe had done earlier. Nancy didn't want to show her slight disappointment in his action.

"Taking a page out of Joe's book, I see," Nancy lifted an eyebrow, watching the handsome detective scale back down the shelves.

"Yeah, I figured it was a better idea than picking you up. I wouldn't want to be referred to as a stepping stool again," Frank smiled as he made a quick jump down to the floor.

"Frank Hardy, you should know I was joking. I would have happily had you pick me up. I'm here to help."

Frank was now the one blushing. "I've known you for a long time, Drew. I can always tell by those eyes of yours when you are teasing." Frank brushed a stray piece of hair behind Nancy's ear.

Nancy found herself leaning in slightly to Frank's touch. He was simply too handsome to ignore sometimes. Maybe it was his gentle demeanor and sweet way he acted around her, but she found him irresistible and it was suddenly feeling like she took a risk by being alone with him.

Was Nancy leaning into him? Why was the room suddenly so warm? Frank found himself clearing his throat, anything to fill the silence.

"Tell me, Frank, are my eyes really my tell? I hope I'm not that readable, otherwise what kind of detective would I be?" Nancy looked up at Frank thoughtfully.

"Not at all, Nancy. You are one of the best detectives I know and I love - Joe and I love - working with you." Frank quickly made sure to include his brother in his last statement. "I just know when you're being silly because you get that mischievous glint in your eye. It's really…cute."

"Thank you, Frank. I'm flattered."

Frank admired the smile flashed across Nancy's face. He was relieved she hadn't been uncomfortable by his confession. He also took note of the small distance between them. They had both been leaning up against a bookshelf, but he couldn't recall when his body had moved closer to hers. If only he could reach out and grab her…

"Nancy, do you mind if I ask you something?" Frank was surprised he had interrupted his own thoughts, but his resolve was weakening.

"Of course."

Frank took in a breath. "If Joe hadn't come back here to check on us earlier, what do you think would have happened between us?"

Nancy began to feel her erratic heartbeat. She wasn't expecting Frank to bluntly ask her about something they had carefully avoided to ever discuss. Frank's kind eyes patiently stared into Nancy's, waiting for her reply.

"I…think we would have kissed," Nancy found it difficult to continue looking at him, but she maintained composure.

Frank slowly stepped away from the bookshelf and stood in front of Nancy, taking in their obvious height difference. Nancy brought her hands behind her back, clenching the bookshelf to stay grounded.

"I think so, too." Frank leaned his arms forward, locking Nancy against the bookshelf. He lowered his head to hers, stopping when his nose grazed hers.

Nancy closed her eyes, unable to comprehend the rush of emotions pouring out of her. Frank was dangerously close, but he wasn't moving in the entire way to meet her lips. The result was agonizing torture – each passing moment was thicker than the last, and it was unbearable not touching him.

"Frank…" Nancy replied breathlessly. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to know, Nancy."

Nancy let a small smile creep across her lips. "Well, you could have told me when you were standing further away, Hardy."

Frank let out a chuckle. Even in the heat of the moment, Nancy was confidently able to tease him. "I suppose you're right." He brought his arms down, moving away from her.

Nancy brought her hand to his back, halting further movement. Frank looked down at Nancy in surprise. Before he could respond, Nancy had reached up and brought her lips to his. The kiss was chaste and slow, each savoring the moment.

Frank leaned into Nancy, pinning her to the bookshelf with his waist. He brought his hands to cup her face, continuing his slow graze against Nancy's mouth. The soft moan that escaped her caused Frank to deepen the kiss. Nancy wrapped her hands around Frank's waist, caressing his strong back. All their high intensity cases paid off: Frank was certainly built.

Frank ran his hands against Nancy's body, boldly cupping her bottom and lifting her to rest on the bookshelf. The gesture did not go unnoticed by Nancy, who wasted no time wrapping her legs around Frank. Their innocent kiss had now turned into something more urgent. Nancy found herself desperate to touch his skin, something she had been longing to do for years. Hastily, she brought her hands under Frank's shirt, running her fingers against his abdomen and waist.

Frank involuntarily twitched his groin towards Nancy's middle, causing her to moan again. He let out a ragged breath before moving his lips to other unchartered territory: the crook of her neck. Countless times he had brushed her hair away from the area, and now he found himself devouring every inch of her skin there. Frank kissed and nibbled against her flesh, greedily consuming all that he could.

Nancy's mind was spinning. After several teenage years of pent up feelings, they were finally releasing their innermost desires. They were no longer teen detectives, but young adults, engaging in a not-so-innocent embrace. It was flattering that Frank was as eager as she was. How would they be able to explain this later? At the moment, it didn't matter. Nancy brought her hands up higher, itching to remove Frank's shirt.

"The library will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please bring your books to the check-out area." The announcement ricocheted through the silent library, startling Frank and Nancy.

Frank slowly released his lips from Nancy's neck, feeling the gentle release of Nancy's legs against his waist. He sighed, moving backwards to face her. She was panting with swollen lips and disheveled hair, staring back at him. It took everything for Frank to not reconnect his mouth with hers.

"Nancy, I'm….I'm really sorry."

"Hmm?" Nancy was still trying to catch her breath. She was still sitting on the bookshelf, as her legs had become jelly.

"I didn't mean for that to get out of hand."

Nancy gathered herself, finally stepping to the ground. She smoothed out her hair, wishing she had brought a mirror.

"No need to apologize. It takes two…"

"I've wanted to do that for a long time." Frank stared at Nancy, gauging her reaction to his confession.

Nancy smiled. "Me too. Pretty much since Egypt."

Frank was grinning ear to ear.

"Well maybe not _everything_ –' Nancy waved her arm in the space between them – 'that just happened, but kissing you again, definitely." Kissing Frank was like truth serum apparently, since she was letting it all out.

Frank laughed. "I've wanted to kiss you since our first case together, and every case since then." Frank lowered his voice slightly. "Even when Callie and Ned were in the picture."

A blush crept across her face. It was an avoided fact between the two of them. Even when they chalked up the tension to being stress related, she had always held a torch for him. Now that they were 24, it felt right putting it all out in the open.

"Me too."

Their cards were finally on the table, and it felt liberating to be honest with one other. Within seconds, Frank brought Nancy into his arms, passionately reconfirming in a kiss what they had said with words.

"The library will be closing in ten minutes. Please bring your books to the check-out area."

Frank pulled back, resting his forehead against Nancy's. "We can always count on an interruption." He let out a chuckle.

"Well, we have ten minutes..." Nancy sheepishly grinned up at Frank.

"Is that so, Drew?"

"Might as well make them count."

Without another word, Frank pushed Nancy against the bookshelf once more and ravished her mouth with a bruising kiss.

They were ten minutes well spent.


End file.
